Part of being able to do all of these great FOREVER things is having your computer house in order.
Below are a few Resources that I have found to be reliable and a good thing to consider as part of your digital operating procedure (DOP).
digital artwork and other resources
I'm a huge fan of anything that makes things SIMPLER. If I had the amount of time I had ten years ago I may choose differently, but time is at a premium for me. And I'll bet it might be for you, too.
These are a few places that I get digital content that I can trust to use in my projects and books:
- FOREVER.com, of course. FOREVER offers content that Artisan 6 will download and install for you in just one click. With earlier versions of Artisan it is still super simple to get your content incorporated to use with your software.
The best part is, every day FOREVER offers a DEAL OF THE DAY for one new digital art kit at 50% off (or more if you're a FOREVER Club member). To find it, just go to the DEALS link at FOREVER.com and the first offer is usually the DEAL OF THE DAY.
- pixels2Pages – This is the premier place to learn EVERYTHING there is to learn about Artisan and Historian software. But on top of that, p2P members get a new exclusive set of Blueprints for use with Artisan software each month plus really neat page examples of how to use them.
I LOVE these Blueprints and use them for probably 70% of my pages in my yearly albums. I just can't say enough good stuff about all of the cool things to learn from p2P. - CreativeFabrica.com – This is a site full of fonts, clip art and other goodies. My favorite part is the Daily Gifts.
You can sign up for the Daily Gifts alert via email or desktop notification and receive a link each day for a different premium font, graphic and craft download. I get most of my fonts this way. (I have a paid subscription now, too, but for me it's a great deal.) - CreativeMarket.com – This site isn't just for scrapbooking. I love their stuff. They usually have a monthly heavily discounted bundle that will include things you can use for backgrounds or embellishments and tons of cool Fonts. I LOVE fonts!
There are definitely lots of other places you can get great stuff, but these are some of my favorites.
my source for phones (with GREAT cameras!)
We all used to use cameras to take our pictures, but really now that's often not the case. That thing in your pocket isn't as much a phone for talking anymore as it is a social media and photo-taking tool. I wrote a whole post to help a few family members find good phones at a better price and if you need that info, you can find it here:
My Recommendations for a Phone Upgrade
One thing to note: the links included in that post are current as of the date I most recently updated it (08/28/2023) and I will do my best to update them over time, but things change frequently and those links may not go to the same listing when you click. But the post itself still has some great recommendations to help you find the best option for you.
backup solutions
As I hope you know, having a backup isn't optional. It's super IMPORTANT! One of the wonderful things about Historian is the shadow copy feature that makes backup simple if you have an external hard drive. And your FOREVER Storage is a very safe system for all of your photos because it is backed up on multiple servers around the world.
But the other things on your computer like your Artisan projects and other documents should still be have a backup plan. I always recommend two backups, if possible. If you can, you want one offline, local backup to an external hard drive and then also an offsite backup in case something happens to your home that would compromise the external hard drive.
You can't go wrong with a portable external hard drive. They are relatively inexpensive and easy to come by. You can often find a good deal at your local Costco, or there are multiple options available on Amazon. (that's my affiliate link) You want to make sure when you purchase one that you don't go too small. Look at how much space your documents and files are currently taking and try to double that at least if you can. Especially when it comes to Artisan projects and digital art kits; those can be really LARGE files.
For a secure offsite backup, I recommend (and use) iDrive. They offer great flexibility for sharing and accessing your back up files, plus they offer something called iDrive Express Upload. This is a great service to use as a personal user because they will ship a secure drive to you, you can then backup up to 3 Tb of files to the drive and ship it back to them for upload.
Why is this such a great idea?
Here's why. Depending on your internet service, you likely have a limited amount of data you can use to upload each month. I have a fairly substantial internet service plan but it still limits me to 1.5 Tb per month. So if I have more than 1.5 Tb of data to backup, I'm either going to exceed my data limit (which means I'll have extra charges) or it will take more more than a month to complete the full backup.
I tried a different popular backup service (twice) and it only backed up about 25% of my files before I started receiving daily emails from my internet provider warning me that I was close to the limit and would have an additional charge if I went over. Since the iDrive Express Upload service is complimentary with my iDrive subscription, it was a no-brainer to try that to the get the process started.
Plus, with iDrive I can access any of my files from my phone if I need to. That means I have secure access to my files anywhere I need it. Really worth it to me.
If you need to map out your backup plan and would like some help, please let me know!
